Petrus Plancius (1552 May 15, 1622) was a Flemish astronomer, cartographer and clergyman. He was born as Pieter Platevoet in Dranouter, now in Heuvelland, West Flanders. He studied theology in Germany and England. At the age of 24 he became a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church.

Because of religious prosecution by the Inquisition, he travelled to Amsterdam in 1585. There he became interested in navigation and cartography and was soon recognized as an expert on shipping routes to India. In 1592 he published his best known world map titled "Nova et exacta Terrarum Tabula geographica et hydrographica." In addition to maps, he published journals and navigational guides and developed a new method for determining longitude. He was one of the founders of the Dutch East India Company.

1899. World's Fleet. Boston Daily Globe

Lloyds Register of Shipping gives the entire fleet of the world as 28,180 steamers and sailing vessels, with a total tonnage of 27,673,628, of which 39 perent are British.

Great Britain

10,990 vessels, total tonnage of 10,792,714

United States

3,010 vessels, total tonnage of 2,405,887

Norway

2,528 vessels, tonnage of 1,604,230

Germany

1,676 vessels, with a tonnage of 2,453,334, in which are included her particularly large ships.

Archaeology of East Asian ShipbuildingJun Kimura
“The most comprehensive technical inventory of East Asian shipbuilding and shipwrecks available to date, this detailed analysis refines our understanding of East Asia ship construction.” — Hans Konrad Van Tilburg, author of Chinese Junks on the Pacific: Views from a Different Deck

Sources: As noted on entries and through research centers including National Archives, San Bruno, California; CDNC: California Digital Newspaper Collection; San Francisco Main Library History Collection; and Maritime Museums and Collections in Australia, China, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Wales, Norway, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, etc.

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